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Don’t hold the line—advance it!

Defending the faith requires forward action

Originally appeared in Creation Extra, December 2012.

We all recognize that our culture today is not Christian. If we are totally
honest, it’s primarily antichristian. The buzz word ‘tolerance’ is
really just an excuse for ‘intolerance’ of Christianity and the
promotion of secularism. Where Christian thought and morality once prevailed,
the agenda seems to be to remove the last vestiges of Christianity from society.

Is this over the top? Well, consider how much of the public space, i.e. our
public schools/universities, our courthouses, our media etc. no longer allows
for the endorsement of the Christian traditions and foundations that originally
made our Western nations the leaders in science, commerce, sanitation/health
and so on. The erosion of this Christian foundation has occurred due to a loss
of biblical authority. That is, the Bible and the Christian faith is just viewed
as one of many philosophies that people have—even to the extent that
an occultic practice such as witchcraft can be viewed as a legitimate alternative
religion.

The Bible and the Christian faith is just viewed
as one of many philosophies that people have.

Origins

Origins is the subject where the rubber really meets the road. The Bible,
unlike many false religions, makes some pretty profound statements right up
front. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth”. “In the beginning” indicates that He
existed before the things that He made. He exists outside of the space-time
universe that He made. This implies He is more powerful than anything He made.
In short, He is the Creator of everything. As such, he has a right
to say what happens with His creation and the creatures in it. But in a ‘tolerant’ society
it is not politically correct to say what is wrong or right, and on CREATION.com
we’ve featured some rather shocking articles as to what people are campaigning
for as normal behavior: see Is
God watching?, for example.

No fear of God

The Bible also speaks about the major cause of this abandonment. It is sin.
There is most certainly nothing new under the sun as a wise man once said (Ecclesiastes
1:9), and indeed, we’d have to go back to origins—the book of Genesis—to
define the origin of sin. And the major justifying excuse for mankind wanting
to do what is right in its own eyes (sin) is evolution. After all, people think
that if science can show the Bible to be wrong when it comes to origins then:

There is no Creator and we are just the result of a long series of chemical
reactions that determine our desires and behaviors.

There is no Creator who owns the universe, so each person has the right
to act in any way they think is best for them.

Moreover, if the first book of the Bible is wrong then it would be illogical
to believe the rest of it.

In short, there is no eternity and ultimately no Creator to be accountable
to, and no need to obey any of His alleged laws anyway. Right and wrong become
matters of personal choice—not universal absolutes.

Moreover, why does one need a Savior if sin is not what Genesis says it is?
Sin is rebellion from the Creator, living one’s life as if God does not
exist. That is certainly how most of the world lives today. Regardless of those
who sadly attempt to reconcile the godless mechanism of evolution (and its
antibiblical history of death and bloodshed before sin) with the Bible; to
the general population the Bible is not authoritative! (And let’s not
forget that just about everyone has been taught or exposed to the idea that
evolution is an irrefutable fact at some stage in their lives.)

One of the ways to grow the Kingdom and restore
the respect that the Bible once had is to be proactive.

Advancing the line

I’ve heard many Christians say things like “We need to hold the
line on biblical authority.” But mistakenly they accede to secular ideas
(like evolution) while trying to hold to the central tenets of the faith/Bible
at the same time. They often think that such appeasement will give Christianity
more appeal. But how many souls is that method winning to the Kingdom? One
of the ways to grow the Kingdom and restore the respect that the Bible once
had is to be proactive. In short, we need to advance the line and retake lost
ground. We can do this by going on the ‘offensive’, seeking to
demolish (2 Corinthians 10:5) in people’s minds the opposing foundation
of evolution on which the humanistic belief system is built. This is because
this false foundation undermines the fundamental doctrines of sin and soteriology
(our need for a savior).

December is when many celebrate Christmas. Regardless of what position one
may take on Christmas celebrations, there is no doubt that most people equate
it with the time that Jesus (the Creator) incarnated as our Savior. It is a
time when many give gifts, so why not start advancing the line by giving someone
a creation resource? It opens many eyes to the truth of Scripture. Angela C.
wrote:

“My acceptance of the theory of evolution and its incompatibility
with Genesis kept me from Jesus for most of my adult life. I fear there are
many more like me out there. CMI’s battle against these Darwinian lies
is to be commended. I salute you.”

The reality is that people will not search for this information by themselves.
So, once again we need to be proactive in providing it to them. So, please join
us in advancing the line by disseminating life-changing creation resources,
or if you’ve read and benefitted from just a few of the thousands of
articles on this site or our publications, or have watched some of the wide
ranging videos we have onsite, then please consider supporting the work by
donating even a small amount to help us continue.

Readers’ comments

Thanks for this. Interestingly, the British Army's basic manual in strategy used in the 1980s included a number of useful principles, one of which is "A successful defence, unless followed by a counter-attack, will result in ultimate defeat" we need to advance the line.

the problem with Christianity/Christians in Australia is that they're too self-effacing, too nondescript....almost to the point of invisibility;
we need "pit bulls" like William Lane Craig and Ravi Zacharias who are prepared to 'go for the jugular' of the secular humanists in major battle-fields like the courts, the universities, the media and government/bureucracy; there seems to be no Christian philosophers and/or apologists in this country to 'pull up' the bogus and ridiculous logic of the secular humanists in those major cultural areas....we have no warriors of the faith like Paul, Augustine or Thomas Aquinas who are prepared to scale the seven mountains that oppose us: arts & entertainment, business, education, family, government, media and religion;
many of the early disciples of Christ and the early Church fathers were skilled in rhetoric and logic and *fuiously contended* for the faith in *all* major socio-political areas of their culture.....if you give ground to the Enemy, he will conquer it and occupy it!!......and you will suffer the consequences!

Indeed, though unfortunately even the two you mention either avoid the key issue of Genesis history or even (in the case of Craig) condemn those who cogently defend it in the way in which Jesus and the Apostles clearly understood it--see William Lane Craig's intellectually dishonest attack on biblical creationists. It is thus often the atheists whom they are debating who 'go for the jugular' in this area. For example, Frank Zindler, in a debate with Craig, was referring to the fact that in a long-age or theistic evolutionary view, it is no longer cogent to see Adam and Eve as other than symbolic. He stated (and it is hard to fault his logic, given the starting point of theistic evolution):

"The most devastating thing though that biology did to Christianity was the discovery of biological evolution. Now that we know that Adam and Eve never were real people the central myth of Christianity is destroyed. If there never was an Adam and Eve there never was an original sin. If there never was an original sin there is no need of salvation. If there is no need of salvation there is no need of a saviour. And I submit that puts Jesus, historical or otherwise, into the ranks of the unemployed. I think that evolution is absolutely the death knell of Christianity."

Yes! I totally agree. We are called soldiers of Christ for a reason. We do battle against every high thought, principality, and philosophies that are enemies of truth and goodness that is of Christ, The Way and Creator. We cannot balk on the battlefield, or we risk high casualties. I am planning on attending CalArts to get a Bachelor's Degree in Character Animation to help Creation Ministries reach audiences they may have never reached before through the medium.

To destroy the foundation of evolutionism, its foundation and substance must be exposed i.e. Evolution and its imagined phenomena were not observed and repeatedly tested as the scientific method requires. Therefore, Evolutionism cannot be a field of study or a science that it masquerades as. To masquerade as a science it must hijack evidence and make false claims. Therefore, all its false claims need to be publicized to expose Evolutionism as atheistic pseudoscience so that it has no scientific foundation, but is founded on atheistic lies and just-so storytelling. You are incorrect to say Jesus is the creator.

Your view that Jesus not being the Creator is sadly incorrect. The Bible clearly states that He is the Creator of all things (see Colossians 1; John 1; for a start). This is the view that was held from the beginning by the early church and the church fathers, and the Trinitarian view has been the backbone of evangelicalism since the church began. So, if you claim to be a Christian, and you also use the Bible as your source of knowledge about the faith, then you would have to be selective in omitting clear references that Jesus is God in the flesh. For example, Hebrews 1:1-2 says:

"but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. . The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being." (Emphases mine). If you don't accept these words then nothing will apparently convince you. This has serious implications as such a low view of Christ has the hallmarks of a cult. So, while one thinks he is a Christian, it might not be the case. I urge you to seriously consider your position. Read Jesus Christ the Creator God.

This is very good and apposite stuff, Gary.
Just one point, though -- fresh comers to Creation website need to be aware that, when the term 'evolution' is normally being used, it refers to macro- as opposed to micro-evolution. Perhaps a head- or footnote could be placed to clarify this and an asterisk to the word, relating to the note, inserted wherever it appears.

I understand what you mean by your comment but I am not sure that is apt to try to define the term every time in the way you suggest. Evolution can actually mean different things so one needs to look at the context in which the term is being used. One might be referring to cosmic, geological and even biological evolution, or just a big picture concept that embraces all of these ideas. Moreover, if you search our site you will see that we actually prefer not to use the term macro evolution at all, but rather prefer to explain the concept as variation within created kinds due to natural selection and so on. At the end of the day, I cannot see how our use of the word evolution would in any way give the impression that we endorse evolution at all. However, I do think using the term 'macro' would imply some tacit support for evolutionary concepts--and we most certainly don't want that to be the case. All the best.

"Right and wrong become matters of personal choice—not universal absolutes." and thus they must hold as absolutely true that truth / morality is person relative :) "what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive...."

Here! Here! I'd love to see a stronger showing from Australian Christians to act like this; supporting the Bible. I would be a part of it: marches, petitions, etc. The article reminds me of the Casting Crowns Song "Courageous".

"Advancing the line" rather than holding it applies to our efforts at Christmas to show Christian charity in various ways. If we don't also simultaneously take the opportunity to preach the gospel (including creation, the Christmas story and the salvation message), we are almost missing the point of the charity, and leaving the job half done. See the article "Atheists credit the gospel" on this site.

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